Multicolor cinematograph film material



Aug. 18, 1931. J. E. THORNTON I MULTICOLOR CINEMATOGRAPH FILM MATERIAL Original Filed May 5, 1924 Illllllllllllllllll Patented AugQS, 1931 JOHN EDWARD THORNTON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND MULTICOLOR CINEMATOGRAPH FILM MATERIAL Original application filed May 5, 1924, Serial No. 711,253, and in Great Britain May 18, 1923. lDivided and this application led October 3, 1925. Serial No. 60,347.

This invention relates to a film-material for use in the production of multi-color ,cine-` c matograph or other film positives infour or threey colors, in which half of a pic-ture is formed in one layer of colloid upon one piece of film and the other half of the picture in one layer of colloid on a secondv piece of film, eachlayer and each half-picture containing two colors interspersed or intermixed in close' juxtaposition.

It comprises .a strip of `film-material of double standard width and half standard thickness, having upon its surface two stripes of colloid vrunning side by side longitudinally of the film, each stripe formed with a mosaic pattern therein of'fine lines dots or grains; the strip of material being adapted to be severed longitudinally "after printing, and

the images printed upon one strip being superimposed upon the images printed upon the other strip.

The invention will be fullyv described with reference to theraccompanying drawings.

' F 1 is a diagrammatic section of nonp reinforced llm-mater1al` showingl colored grains'embedded in the colloid and exagger- .ated in size.

Fig. 2 is a View showing piece of double standard width film material'with the colored grains embedded therein and the interspaces dyed a. different color from the grains.

Fig. `3, 4, 5 and 6 are views showing lines of different colors formed in the film-material.

is a perspective view of sensitized double width film-material representing a total of four colors in the double width.

Fig. 8 is a. sectional View of reinforced film showing layer of reinforcing' paper.

In my English Patent N o. 8300, dated J une Il, 1915, and United States Patent N o. 1,263,962, dated April 23, 1918, I have described the manufactureof a multi-color film comprising a single support of Celluloid or l other material of standard thickness, upon of better quality g Aand upon the one support. 5

The present invention is a development of and improvement upon that invention, inasmuch that it overcomes great technical dificulties which occur when a multi-color mosaic of morev than two colors is requiied, dif- 5 ficulties which render the manufacture of three or four-color material almost prohibitive in cost of production.

In the present invention these are overcome by the simple device of making the film 60 of two parts, each ofwhich contains only two colors, and upon a support of double the area or width but only half the standard thick-- ness which is subsequently cut into two after printing andV finishing, thereon two prints, each of which represents only half a picture, then bringing the two parts together .with their two half-pictures superimposed and then cernenting the two parts together to reduce one film having mosaic pictures of fldurcolors, or of three co1- ors if desired, as described in my U. S. Patent N o. 1,7 35,810, dated November 12, 1929 of which this application is a division. A film-material of this improved type is not only much easier to print but yields prints and furthermore the delicate colored images can, if desired, be enclosed and protected from scratches within the .body of the film by uniting the two parts image-face to image-face; or on the other handv the two parts can be united back-to-back withtheir two images upon the outer faces of the film; or they can if desired be united face and after forming 6 to back if preferred. When the parts have 35 formed in a fine mosaic of dots, lines or grains 90 20 material may be made in ranging and manufacturing the special col- 60 covered gelatine inthe spaces or in one layer of colloid upon one piece of film, and on a second piece of film in another layer of colloid the other half of the picture come prising the other two component colors is 5 formed in a fine mosaic of dots, lines or grains, the two films, each with its half-picture, being subsequently superimposed and cemented together to produce the complete multicolor picture.

The film base is of any known suitable waterproof material such as Celluloid or cellulose-acetate.

Itis made inv strips of double standard width and half standard thickness or vapproximately .002 inch thick, with a colloid coating' or layer of about .O01 yinch thick, giving a total thickness to the film of approximately .O03 inch. r

For convenience of manufacture the thin when finished afterwards slit into strips of double standard width for use. v

If these section-films are found to be too thin and `frail to withstand the rough handlin ofthe film printery during printing,

and finishing, they may be,

deve oping, strengthened by a temporary reinforcing strip of paper applied during their manufac ture. In that case the film comprises transparent celluloid at the back, reinforcing paper at the front, and the multi-colored colloid layer sandwiched between.

vForming 'the colored layers The following are different methods of larlloid layer of the film-material parallel stripes in order that it will produce two s ection-images of different colors sidebyside in adjacent areas of the same layer or strata.

(A) For nonreinforced film-material the waterproof cellulose base or support is first prepared withthe usual adhesive substratum known to those versed in the art of film manufacture,

and is next coatedlwith a layer of plain gelatine of about .001 inch thick, taking the thickness as being measured after drying, but it will `obviously be thicker whilst wet.

To this gelatine layer is attached, after the gelatine has set and before it is dried2 a vast number of grains of colored colloid, sufficient to entirely cover the surface of one half-width with grains of one color, and the other half-width with grains of another color.

The grains must be so applied thatthey form a single layer only one grain deep, and placed in fairly close juxtaposition so'that they mostly touch each other, leaving iin-- angles .between the adjacent grains.

The grains! are next rolled by means of pressure rolls until they are embedded 1n the soft gelatine levelwith the surface, so that the two materials then present a common a broad web and.-

levelsurface. A longitudinal cross-section l dye which is afterwards mordanted.

The colloid layer in which the colored grains are embedded is allowed to dry, and when dryis dyed over half width of its surface with a dye of one color and over the other half with a dye of a different color, in two longitudinal stripes, as shown in Figure 7 the dyes used being absorbed by the'colloid layer but not by the mordanted colored grains.

: When finished it will present a doublewidth'niate-rial, one half of which is covered with minute-areas of two interspersed colors and the other half with minute areas of two different interspersed colors, making four colors altogether as shown in Figure 2.

(13)' According to an alternative method of .manufacturing the film the film base is coated with a layer of gelatine and then dried. It is next printed witha series of exceedingly fine lines in one of the colors of mordanted dyes. When these are dry the film is next dyed in a/bath of the other color, which will only enter the unmordanted and absorbent portions of the film between the already printed lines, and the latter will remain unaffected by the second color. The film will then present an even-layer of alternating lines of two different colors, different upon both halves, making four sets of lines in two parallel strips of four different colors, as shownI in Figures 3, 4 and 5.

The lines of one half of the double-width lfilm may run longitudinally, and those of the other half transversely. as shown in Figure 5, so that, when the two halves are'cut and superimposed, the `lines will'cross and `produce a pattern of squares. Or the lines of both halves may run diagonally atan angle of 45 degrees tothe edge of the film, as shown in Figure 3, vso that, ywhen the two halves are cut and superimposed,l the lines will cross and produce, a pattern of diamonds.

Where the two colors cross a third color will be produced.

As this lineal method gives a constantly recurring pattern it is preferred to so arrange it, by making the pattern an inexact division vof a complete'picture area, that the mosaic pattern of dots or lines do not recur in the same place in every succeeding picture, and this arrangement, coupled with persistence of vision, obliterates on the screen any sem blance of pattern or grain.

If preferred, fine irregula rly-fo'rmed dots cidental or irregular dot is much pre'- ferred, and in method A this result is secured automatically. From the above description it will be clear that the two images formed in different colors on each thin film strip do not superimpose,

but are interspaced in adjacent areas of the same strata.

Vhen however, the two printed films arel laid over each other and cemented together one two-color image will be superimposed upon the other two-color image, and, in lcases where the colors'overlap, other colors will he seen as a result of the combination. y Arrangement `of the colors 3 The arrangement of the colors may be varied as desired, provided the four or three colors used ture. f

No claim ismade for any particular combinatioii, butinpractice the following are `found to be good and convenient coinbina'- tions:

producea perfectly balanced pic- -iFor o )courir-dolorl piotiwe Combination lL-'Crimson and yellow upon one half the film, and blue and green upon the other half,`as indicated in Figures VSand 4. i

Combination B.-Scarlet-red and bluegreen upon one half the-film, and dark-blue `and light v'ellow upon the other half, as shown in Figure 5.y a y A c oinbination lr-Red and yello ForI a three-color picture upon one half ofthe film and blue and yello upon the other half, as indicated in Figure 6.

In all the above combinations the film material isintended for forming two tures, each in two colors, which are sections of a complete picture; and it is intended there shall be two color-analysis made by each half 4of thev film,

whether used" for producing a four-color picture or.. only a three-color pic-Y ture.

Sensitizing the colored loyers Q The colored film material may now besensitized with bichrom'atesalts for slow, printiing or with 'silver salts for more rapid print-n ing by wellknown processes.

half-pid.

required it may j already described., By this means a film ofA the printing-out type can,be made, which requires no developing. A,It merely requires about the same exposure as the bichromate film, then treating with the oxidizing or insolubilizing bath, and then the silver removing, as already described. p A r Reinforced )tlm-material 'As the film-material Ahereiiibefore described is very thin and frail (being only half the thickness ofstandard film material) it may in some cases be preferred to have a strongerv film that willv better withstand rough handling by the yoperators inthe film printery.

film with a temporary backing or ure 8, ywhichbackfng can be readily detached and thrown away when the filma-print is com-` plete or at anyxother desired stagefof' the finishiiigfprocesses, as in mv British Patent l 213,647, dated December l 27, 1922.

i As it is necessaryto print the film ex' posure througli'the Celluloid back or support, and to then develop it "from the front or sensitized colloid side, these conditions must still be provided for inv manufacturing thereinforced filni, and such reinforced film-material is therefore constructed with the perinanent Celluloid support at one side, Vthe tempo-` i rary reinforcing stripof paper at the other side, and the colored colloid in the centre sandwiched between thejtwo.: The paper selected must therefore be porous in character, so that the .developing and other including hot water, can readilypenetrate and reach the enclosed colloid exposed layer,

This object can be attained by manufacturing the j reinforcing strip of paper, asshown in Figsolutions,

r Such, reinforced film-'material re uies tov Q be manufactured or built up in a slightly different order than the. non-reinforced variety, andvmay be carried-out by'eitlier lowing two'different methods: J

.Manoa o The Celluloid basepor support isrst coated with the usual substratum. The `porous reinforcing paper is then coated with ,the gelatine layer, the colored grains, spread thereon, the gelatine spaces dyed, and the whole rolled Hush. Or the colored surface may be preparedA according ,to any of the modifications A or B, already described. l i

. After'dryingV both the substratum 'von the' Celluloid and the colloid on thepaper, the colof the fol- I iio loidjsurfaceof the latter isalso coated with a. substratum and dried, afters which Lsubstratums are slightly damped, laid: ltogether face-to-face, squeezed between pressure rolls, and dried. The result is a perfect `and permanent union ofthetwo strips so that they become one.

' similar to that Method D The reinforcing paper constitutes the casting base upon which the colored layer is formed. The latter is next coated withva substratum and the substratum is next coated with celluloid to .form the base. When the several layers are dry the result is afilm formed by method C. It is a goodrfilm, but C is better.

By the addition of this reinforcement the ythin material of only .00300 inch, can be films, for producing either cinematograph or non-cinematograph multi-color positives.

What I claim as my invention and desire t0 protect by Letters Patent is `port, a strip of porous paper,

1. A reinforced film, including a Celluloid support, a substratum carried by said supand aflayer of colloid carried by said strip of paper, said colloid having interspersed colored areas with theinterspaces between said areas dyed with a different color, and said paper having its coated face attached to the substratum carried by the support and being removable from said support during the final stages` of development of the film. Y

2. The herein-described method of making a reinforced photographic film, comprising coating a support with a substratum and drying the same; coating a strip of porous paper with a layer of colloid; coloring interspersed areas of said colloid layer; dyeing the interspaces between said colored areas with -a different color; .drying said layer; applying an adhesive coating to said colloid layer; drying said adhesive coating; slightly dampening both the substratum carried bysaid support and the adhesive coating carried by said strip of paper; and placing the dampened surfaces of'said substratum and adhesive coating together under'pressure to unite them.

2g. The herein-described method of making reinforced photographic film, comprising: coating a supportl with a substratum and drying same; coating a strip of porous paper with colloid; spreading colored grains on said colloid; rolling the surface of said colloid Hush and drying same; dyeing the interspaces of said colloid between said grains with another color; applying an adhesive coating to said colloid surface; drying said adhesive coating; dampening both said sub- -stratum and adhesive coating; and placing the dampened surfaces of said substratum and adhesive coating together under pressure to unite them.

4. The method of constructing a two-part mosaic colored lm material for the produc?l tion of multi-'color positive pictures, comprising applying a layer of colloid upon a support, forming in said layer of colloid a JOHN EDWARD THORNTON. 

